


A Brief Guide to Handcuffs (and how to escape them)

by goldenmeme



Category: Bones (TV), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Elementary (TV), Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, White Collar
Genre: Essay, Handcuffs, Meta, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-30
Updated: 2014-10-30
Packaged: 2018-02-23 05:10:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2535380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenmeme/pseuds/goldenmeme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For all those plots that involve your favorite characters stuck in a pair of handcuffs without the key, here is everything (and probably more) that you need to know about how to get out of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Brief Guide to Handcuffs (and how to escape them)

I wrote this many moons ago when I was involved in the White Collar fandom, but it should be very useful for nearly any fandom. (Because, you know... what fandom DOESN'T have the obligatory " _Oh no, you handcuffed me to the bed/radiator/yourself and lost the key_ " fic? Certainly not a fandom I'd ever want to be in.) I edited it a wee bit from the original to reflect my updated knowledge.

This meant to be an educational guide only, and the information herein should not be used for illegal purposes. Obey the law!

The first and most common misconception is that handcuffs are difficult to pick. Words cannot express how untrue this is. I can and have taught people with no lock picking experience to pick them with under five minutes of instruction. 

Essentially, there is a single lever inside of the cuff that needs to be pushed aside to disengage the lock. That’s it: just one little lever. It can be done in less than a second if you know what you’re doing. The main challenge is finding something slim enough and at the right angle to reach it. It’s easiest if it’s bent at a 90-degree angle. The best thing to use is a bent bobby pin. (You can easily bend it using the keyway on the handcuffs to push against.) Paperclips are a little soft, but workable in a pinch. I’ve used everything from conveniently shaped twigs to mangled q-tips. Be creative; if your character can’t find something on hand that’ll work, they’re not looking hard enough.

I do want to stress this part, because I see it a lot in fics and even often canon: it is almost impossible to pick a handcuff’s lock with real lockpicks. They’re just shaped wrong. Lockpicks are designed to push pins up, but the pin in a handcuff needs to be pushed sideways, and most lock picks are too thick to fit in the keyway sideways.

For the most part, all handcuffs everywhere always take the same key. Seriously. 99% of all handcuffs ever made, no matter how cheap or professional, take the same key. If your character has a 20-year-old random plastic novelty handcuff key in their junk drawer, it will work on those brand new police issues. There are such things as high security handcuffs which have an actual tumbler lock, but they are very, very uncommon. They are pretty much used exclusively in high security prisons.

A lot of police handcuffs nowadays are double locked, which means they’re locked once and they can be tightened but not loosened, and then locked a second time so they can’t be tightened. This is for the safety of the person cuffed, as handcuffs that are too tight can easily cause lasting nerve damage, and the police are never to let someone out of cuffs to loosen them. This only makes them slightly harder to pick than single locks; there are two levers, one on either side of the lock, that need to be disengaged. Just do the one side as described above, then turn the pick around and do the other side exactly the same way. Still hardly a challenge.

The iconic chain handcuffs are still very much in use and can easily be picked from practically any position. Some police departments have started using hinged or rigid cuffs, which are physically impossible for the restrained person to unlock if they’re put on right (meaning behind the back, with the locks pointed up and away from the hands.) I suppose theoretically it would be possible with a long enough wire and a lot of patience, but really not worth it. If needs must and a person was flexible enough and had enough freedom of movement, one could step through the cuffs so they were in front and then open them with something held in their mouth.

Zip-tie cuffs can be escaped from by inserting something very slim (ideally a pin, but a bobby pin or lock pick miiiight work) between the strap and the locking part, so the ratchet mechanism can’t engage. It takes a bit of wiggling and force, so it would be difficult to do if cuffed behind the back, but not impossible. 

The same basic trick can be used on metal cuffs; if nothing on hand will work to pick them, you can jimmy something between the lock and the ratchet to open them.

One can also escape zip-ties (although not proper zip-tie cuffs; this only works if it’s a single zip tie around both wrists) with hands tied in front by pulling the tab with your teeth to tighten it as much as possible, raising your hands over your head, and bringing them down to your hips as quickly as possible. It should wrench the tie apart. It will hurt, and possibly break a little skin, but shouldn’t break bones.

The ability to slip cuffs depends a lot on how tight they are, how thin the cuffed person is, and the shape of their hands/wrists. There’s some speculation that it’s possible to dislocate one’s thumb and slip cuffs that way, though I personally have never seen a real account of it and have some healthy scepticism that it’s possible. I have very slim hands and can still only slip cuffs if they’re noticeably loose; larger, manly hands would be unlikely to manage even that. 

It does help if you can put on a pair of leather or cloth gloves under the cuffs, as unlikely as that sounds. Pull the cuffs off along with the glove and your skin won’t catch, making it infinitely easier. With gloves, I can slip cuffs that are securely tight, but not ones that are uncomfortably tight.

I hope people found this informative. I’m by no means an expert, just a curious hobbyist, so the above information might have a few inaccuracies. If you spotted one feel free to correct me. Likewise, if I left anything out that you’re curious about, feel free to ask.


End file.
